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Thai Protesters Storm Parliament

Supporters of the ousted prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra pushed through the main gate of the country’s parliament compound on Wednesday.Credit
Agence France-Presse — Getty Images

BANGKOK — Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva of Thailand declared a state of emergency in the Bangkok area on Wednesday after antigovernment demonstrators broke into the Parliament building, forcing government ministers to flee by helicopter.

The televised announcement came after nearly a month of street demonstrations by the red-shirted protesters, who paralyzed the city’s commercial district in recent days and paraded through the city in defiance of government restrictions. They are demanding that Mr. Abhisit dissolve Parliament and call new elections.

The declaration of a state of emergency gives the military the power to suspend certain civil liberties and ban public gatherings of more than five people. It creates a Crisis Solution Center under joint civilian and military control.

“We need to plan and implement everything to the last detail and with thorough care,” Mr. Abhisit said. “The last thing we want is for the situation to spiral out of control.”

He added, “We do this not with the intention of cracking down on innocent people but to sanctify the law.”

The brief invasion of Parliament earlier Wednesday, the failure of security forces to stop it and the hasty retreat by government officials added to a growing sense in Bangkok that the government was not in control of the situation.

At a rally shortly after the invasion a protest leader, Jatuporn Prompan, was defiant. “If you want to kill us, come on in,” he said. “But if you consider us your brothers and sisters, put your weapons down.”

The ministers, in their dark, tailored suits, could be seen on television clambering over a back wall of the Parliament building and then boarding a Black Hawk helicopter under armed guard.

At the front of the building, red-shirted protesters and their black-uniformed enforcers shoved and wrestled with Parliamentary guards, pushing back security officers with riot shields.

“The Red Shirts were very crazy and yelling,” said Sgt. Paisan Chumanee of the police. “We didn’t know whether they would use violence. To avoid provoking more anger, we used the helicopter.”

The move on the Parliament building came shortly after the conclusion of a cabinet meeting at which ministers extended the Internal Security Act, which allows the security forces to impose curfews and set up checkpoints, said Panitan Wattanayagorn, the government spokesman, who was one of those evacuated.

Mr. Panitan defended the ministers’ hasty retreat, saying they would not have been able to leave on their own “without confrontation.”

Deputy Prime Minister Suthep Thaugsuban, who is in charge of security for the government, was one of those evacuated to a military headquarters after the protesters wrestled with his security guard, seized the guard’s weapon and emptied out the ammunition.

“This is Parliament! Why are you carrying a gun?” an opposition lawmaker shouted at the guard.

Mr. Abhisit, a target of the protesters, had departed a few minutes earlier to the military headquarters, where he has been based during the protests. He later announced that he had canceled a planned trip to the United States for a nuclear security summit meeting next week because of the continuing unrest.

The protest is the latest front in a social and political struggle between the rural and urban poor and an elite that saw its pre-eminence challenged by Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, who was ousted in a coup in 2006.

Mr. Thaksin is abroad now, fleeing a corruption conviction, but he is believed to be financing and coordinating much of the protests.

The protesters, known as Red Shirts, are demanding the dissolution of the government, which came to power in December 2008 through a parliamentary vote, and new elections. Mr. Thaksin’s supporters dominate the rice-growing hinterland, and it is widely believed that they would win the largest share of a nationwide vote.

Mr. Abhisit’s term in office runs until the end of 2011. In recent unsuccessful negotiations, protesters demanded that he step down within 15 days, and he offered the possibility of a new election within nine months. The talks broke down in an impasse but could be revived.

In defiance of government orders, thousands kept up a blockade of the main commercial district, where they had forced shopping malls, hotels and banks to stay closed since Saturday. In a show of impunity on Tuesday, convoys of red-shirted protesters roamed the city freely, pushing through military and police blockades with little resistance.

One commentator, Tulsathit Taptim of the daily newspaper The Nation, called it “arguably the best day so far for the Red Shirts and definitely the worst for Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.”

He added: “Bangkokians’ frustration was palpable — and so was the Red Shirts’ renewed confidence. Also, for the first time, the prime minister must have started questioning the loyalty of some in the military.”

In a telephone interview, Mr. Panitan, the government spokesman, denied reports in the Thai news media that military commanders were refusing orders to use force against the protesters.

“We gave the military clear guidelines,” he said. “They cannot use force or weapons against the people.”

He added: “We are required to solve the situation positively. That’s the job of the prime minister.”

A version of this article appears in print on April 8, 2010, on page A6 of the New York edition with the headline: Thai Premier Declares State of Emergency in Bangkok Area. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe